SEARCHING FOR LIGHT -- ESSAYS IN A TIME OF WAR War represents the ultimate breakdown in both communication and cooperation. Given the current preparations for a war against Iraq, and the several other bloody conflicts under way in the world, this moment cries out for some exploration of possible alternatives to, and responses to, armed conflict. As you will see in the text that follows, I continue to explore "fractal similarity" in conversations, whether these are conversations between persons or between nations. To what degree are the same dynamics at work? Because armed conflict develops such a powerful momentum -- there are people today who say the United States must now go to war against Iraq because the President has already announced it, and the United States will now lose influence if such a war is not fought and won -- I am very interested in how people keep their inner sense of balance and sense of direction in times of crisis and fear. the Seven Challenges Workbook is built around the idea, adapted from the teachings of Gandhi, that every action we take instructs and invites the people around us to take similar actions. Thus, Gandhi advises us to "be the change we want to see," which can also be restated in more current psychological language as "model the behavior you want to evoke." This seems to hold true at every level of human interaction, from toddlers to nations. From this perspective, the current stance of United States, Russia and Israel, in their respective conflicts, that an overwhelming attack will cause adversaries to give up, appears to be deeply flawed. An overwhelming attack is much more likely to spur whomever is left to find a way of making their own overwhelming attack, in some new and unforeseen way. This issue includes three very different essays that I have written in recent years. Because each of these documents is at least several pages long, I have included links to them as web pages (with printer-friendly versions) as well as including the full text of the articles in this message. A MULTI-FAITH DIALOGUE ON GRATITUDE AND FORGIVENESS This is an extended press release for an
interfaith dialogue on the themes of gratitude and forgiveness
that I will be moderating on November 30th at La Casa de Maria
Retreat & Conference Center, near Santa Barbara, California.
I hope readers in the Southern California area will consider
joining us for this day. And I hope readers further away
will consider the outline of the interfaith dialogue as a model
that might be adapted to your city, town, church, temple, mosque,
etc. Gratitude and forgiveness are core values in every
mature spiritual tradition, and as such they represent a kind
of doorway through which people of different faiths and cultures
could meet and respect one another. This is my contribution
to the question of how we keep our inner sense of direction
in chaotic times. This little essay is the preface to a book-length
poem about Hiroshima by my friend, Toby Lurie. There are
many valuable lessons we might learn from the agony of Hiroshima.
One would be not to put our faith in ever more powerful
machines of death. Because, harking back to the Gandhian
principle mentioned above, whatever we do, we teach others to
do. Now the United States is about to go to war to keep
Saddam Hussein from acquiring nuclear weapons. As a U.S. citizen,
it seems to me that we have forgotten who invented nuclear weapons
in the first place and who relied on them for fifty years. What
are we inventing today, that we will also regret in years to
come? THE LOVE
OF CHILDREN MAY HOLD THE SALVATION OF THE WORLD This is a just-finished essay of mine exploring
what values or principles could make a stronger claim on people
than revenge and nationalism. I am especially concerned
about this because personal and national revenge seem to make
so much sense, yet lead their followers into a spiral of escalating
injury from which there appears to be no exit. I propose
that focusing on the love of children could provide a face-saving
way for all sides to back away from the brink of mutual destruction.
It would not be easy or automatic, but it would be worlds
better than what is going on now. Please send these essays on to anyone you feel might be interested. (Each one has its own "recommend to a friend" button. As always, I am deeply grateful for your comments and suggestions. Dennis Rivers
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